Two Worlds
by Estarla
Summary: Can two worlds really become one? Can two opposites become harmonized? Will the 'every day' life of one culture be too much for her? A fic of different worlds than those we know today, but they share the same problems we all do.
1. Dissinile

**A/N** Okay, this fic is going to be a little different I guess. It's a really long story as to how this came about, but it's something that my friend and I made up. I understand if you're slightly weirded out by it or whatever. You really shouldn't read this if you don't have a big imagination because it is a crossover at points with different Final Fantasies and I added some characters that I made up. Plus, Laguna is out of character in this fanfiction. I know a lot of you probably won't like the concept, but hey, this is what happens when me and my friends get bored! We come up with completely crazy ideas. Anyway, I guess I'll stop blabbing and hopefully I didn't scare you away. Now for the disclaimer. ** I do not own Final Fantasy or the characters in it. I do however share the ownership of this plot and the characters Chesther, Zeme, Alfred, Ulga, Katherine, and John with my friend Pip.**

**Two Worlds**

**Chapter one: Dissinile**

Rinoa Heartilly cringed as she realized that with every passing second she was getting closer to her destination. She was to start her new job as a maid or something like that in the palace at the island country of Dissinile. Dissinile…she couldn't bear to think of the place, but she couldn't help it. It was known as one of the most powerful nations on the world today, except for Gambia. They were sworn enemies, Gambia and Dissinile were. The people at Dissinile called themselves 'Death.' Pleasant, right? So of course Rinoa had a good reason to be apprehensive. The people were very strong and believed in hiding as many emotions as possible. Complete opposite of a certain Rinoa Heartilly.

Rinoa wondered how she was going to survive in a place like that. It might have been a little easier if she was working with civilians, but no, her stupid father thought she would get some good discipline working at the intimidating palace. He said he was looking out for her best interests. Yeah right. Rinoa knew it was just to help maintain good relations with the powerful nation. Having a general as a father could be frustrating at times. The great general Caraway. She's lucky to have someone so important as her father, right? Wrong. Although, little did she know, she would be thanking her father for this in the future.

The boat stopped at a dock and Rinoa timidly stepped out to confront her new life. She just wished she could do it a little more confidently. She grabbed her bags and looked around.

She was on a small dock that connected with a sandy beach. A little ways off she could see houses crowded closely together forming what looked like a quaint little port town. Rinoa started as she felt someone tap her on the shoulder. She shook herself from the depths of her mind and saw a friendly looking elderly man looking at her.

"Hello, my name is Alfred. I work as the prince's personal butler, and I will be the one showing you around Miss…?"

"Rinoa. My name is Rinoa." She said rather quietly.

"Well, Miss Rinoa, it is very good to meet you! Please, follow me."

Rinoa silently picked up her suitcases and followed the friendly old man. _He must be in his late sixties._ She thought to herself. She couldn't help but like him. There was something almost like sincere compassion in his words as if he knew what her own apprehension and fear felt like.

After a little ways they approached a plain black car with military plates.

"The prince was assigned to accommodate us so you can expect everything to be military issued. He is a very dedicated and accomplished soldier." Rinoa silently nodded her head as she tossed her bags in the open trunk and quietly slipped into the back seat.

They had probably gone about ten minutes in complete silence. Rinoa didn't feel like talking. She was too busy thinking how miserable then next three months of her life was going to be when she was interrupted by Alfred speaking.

"You don't have to be so worried you know." Rinoa silently looked over at him resisting the urge to burst out in nervous laughter. "It's not all that bad here, once you get used to it that is. You just have to get used to military personnel everywhere and avoid the king. He has a bad temper mind you."

"If this is supposed to help, it's not working."

Alfred looked over to her in surprise. "You do form sentences!" He said teasingly. "Don't worry. I've heard you're the talkative type?"

Rinoa chuckled slightly. "My reputation precedes me. Yes, I suppose that's what others would say." Normally she would have found this annoying, but for some reason, she found it easy to talk to the butler.

"Then I should introduce you to the princess. She is definitely the talkative type. I bet you'd like her."

Rinoa nodded her head. _Kings, princes, princesses? Are these people for real?_

After a little longer of driving she couldn't take it anymore. She had to ask the question she had been waiting to ask since she found out she was coming to this place. It seemed foolish, but she had to make sure. "Um, Alfred? Can I ask you a question that might seem…um, silly?"

Alfred looked at her curiously. "Of course, and remember, there is no such thing as a silly question. If you need anything, let me know."

A little more confident Rinoa proceeded to ask her question, "Does the palace…is there…do you have any cheese at the palace?"

Alfred looked at her, clearly amused before he just down right laughed. It would have annoyed Rinoa, but she found his laugh soothing. She liked it.

"Of course we have cheese! I assumed that the prince was the only one in this world with strange addictions." Rinoa looked at him questioningly silently asking him to explain. After he regained his composure he continued, "Let me guess. You absolutely love cheese, right? You can't go a single day without it. Am I correct?" Rinoa nodded her head again. "The prince is the same way, only not with cheese. He loves oranges and orange juice. He can't function throughout the day unless he's at least had a glass of orange juice in the morning. He really is quite the interesting young man. I only wish he could learn…" Alfred's voice trailed off. His wrinkled, weather-worn face became lost in a painful memory.

Rinoa began to feel pity for the old butler. Obviously, something had happened involving the prince a long time ago. She didn't have time to think about it too much, though because just then did they pull up to a huge palace. Rinoa stepped out of the car feeling very small compared to the monster of a building. Alfred was already making his way in. When he noticed that she wasn't following him, he beckoned her to come forward.

Rinoa hesitated before she took the most important steps of her life proceeding into destiny.

**A/N **Okay, I did it! The first chapter. I hope it was good! Please review!! I know everyone says that, but it really would mean a lot!! Flames are welcome, but complements are good too. Thank you guys so much for reading!

Hoshi

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	2. The Prince

**A/N** Alright, the second chapter! I hope it's good.

**Two Worlds**

**Chapter two: The Prince**

The computer hummed as a certain young prince started it up to do some paperwork. He hated paperwork. The blue-eyed teen sighed as he rested his head in his hands when he heard a knock on the door. He quickly straightened himself out before answering.

"Enter." No sooner had he gotten the word out when the door busted open revealing an ever-happy brown-haired girl.

"Hey, little brother! What'cha doin'?"

Squall resisted the urge to groan in annoyance as he turned to look at his giddy sister. "I'm on duty, Princess. It's Commander Leonhart right now."

Ellone sagged her shoulders and sighed in frustration. "Aren't you technically _always_ on duty? I mean, seriously! Don't you get a break every now and then?"

"Ellone, there is no time for breaks. Besides, his majesty won't let me have one. Now, what do you want? I'm kind of busy."

Ellone chuckled as she saw the annoyed look on her brother's face. That was the easiest emotion to get out of him; annoyance. "Well, I was just wondering if maybe you could come with me to meet-"

"Ellone, no. I'm not coming to meet the new help. I'm too busy."

"Aw, c'mon! That's what you always say!"

"Why don't you ask Zeme to go with you? Doesn't he usually anyway?"

"Yeah, but he's _actually_ busy training with the new recruits. So, _please!_" Ellone clasped her hands behind her back and proceeded to do her 'pouty face.'

"No."

Ellone stopped and put her hands on her hips in defiance. "I heard he's a military kid, just like you. Yup, he's the son of a general!"

At this, Ellone acquired Squall's interest. Maybe they could share strategies. But Squall just continued staring at his computer, acting like he was reading the paperwork.

Squall's façade couldn't get past his sister, though. She had known him too long for that. "Not just any general mind you." Ellone continued, "Does the name General Caraway ring any bells?"

Squall was really interested now. The general of Galbadia's army's son. He was sure there was much information they could share, but he wasn't going to give in.

Ellone sighed. "Squall, I didn't want to do this, but you leave me no choice." Squall looked at his sister with a challenging glance. What could she do to him? "I'll just get Zeme to order you to go with me."

Squall was taken aback for just a second before his wits returned. "Zeme wouldn't do that. There's no valid reason as to why I would need to go with you."

"For protection! He is General Caraway's son. You never know what he could do to an innocent, helpless, weak girl like me. Besides, Zeme's so annoyed and busy right now, he wouldn't even realize what he's ordering."

At that moment, Squall felt like he could smash his head through the computer, but of course he didn't, that wouldn't be very professional. "I'll go." Ellone clapped her hands in delight and walked out of the room. Squall stood up, grabbed his jacket, and began putting it on while walking out the door after his sister.

They had gone maybe five feet down the hall when Ellone started to speak. "I think his name begins with an 'r.'"

"Who?"

"The new help of course! Gosh, sometimes I don't know about you, Squall. Anyway, I remember seeing it written down on the paperwork and I can't really remember what it was. All I know is that it begins with an 'r' and his last name isn't Caraway, I assume it was his mother's, kind of like us, Squall!"

Squall tried to brush off the painful topic of his mother by changing the subject. "When did you see the paperwork? You're not authorized to see it." Squall turned his head to look at his sister only to see she had her own head turned away from him. She obviously wasn't going to answer. "Ellone."

"Alright, so I snuck in the office again! Big deal. It's my house er…ah…palace anyway."

"No, actually it's the king's palace, but whatever. You do realize what would happen if he found out, don't you?" This was Squall's way to show extreme concern for his older sibling. He knew what could happen and it wasn't pretty.

"Nothing happened last time I got caught."

_Yeah that's just because I took the blame for you._ Squall remembered all too well what happened, but he would gladly take the blame for her again. He just wished he could avoid the horrible punishment altogether.

"Just don't do it again, and that's an order."

Ellone rolled her eyes. "Squall, I'm not in the military, you can't order me around."

The truth is, Squall knew he couldn't, he just didn't know any other way to let her know he cared. Not that he would let her know if he did know another way. He would never do that. That would be like breaking some unwritten rule of the 'Death' military.

"Anyway, back to the new help. He's also you're age, Squall, so you two could become friends! And don't say 'no.' That's what happened between you and Zell, right? Then he introduced you to Irvine. See? Where would you be without those two?"

_At least a rank higher._ Squall decided to keep that thought to himself though.

A few steps later they rounded a corner only to nearly run into Squall's personal butler Alfred. Maybe butler wasn't the right word though. More like baby-sitter to Squall.

"Ah, your highnesses! How pleasant to see you! I assume you're here to meet the new help?"

"Right you are, Alfred! Is he here yet?"

"He? Oh, Miss Ellone, I do believe you got your facts mixed up again. Yes, _she_ is here."

"She?"

_She? _Ellone said and Squall thought in unison.

Alfred let out a little chuckle before continuing. "Yes, yes, she. Now where did she go anyway?" Alfred turned around and went down the hall a little ways while calling, "Miss Rinoa? Ah, there you are! Come, the prince and the princess would like to welcome you to the palace."

Rinoa peeled her eyes away from admiring the beautiful structure of the palace to look blank-faced at Alfred.

"Come on, don't be scared. They won't bite, I promise." Alfred said beckoning for her to come back up the hall with him.

Rinoa slowly made her way back with Alfred when she saw two figures standing a few feet away from her. The first one she noticed was a very pleasant, giddy looking girl with a huge smile planted on her seemingly perfect face. Rinoa was suddenly self-conscious about her own appearance. This girl was fairly small in frame and had a cute face framed by short, brown locks. The girl looked older than Rinoa was by at least a few years. Then, the second person caught her eye. He was dressed in the Death military uniform with caramel colored hair and stormy bluish-grey eyes. He taller than Rinoa and held himself with pride. Rinoa was immediately intimidated.

"Princess, Commander Leonhart, may I present the new help, Rinoa Heartilly."

Squall watched the raven-haired girl as she shyly shook Ellone's hand and said a quiet 'hi.' This girl looked the same age as him, dark, long hair, and dark brown eyes to match. She wore a blue tank-top with a simple pair of jeans. She seemed very timid, but there was something that told Squall this period of shyness would pass and that there was more to this girl than he thought.

He watched her silently bow to him and mumble something about 'highness.' Gosh, did he hate it when they did that. Squall just nodded his head emotionless in return deciding that is was too much trouble to say something to her about it.

As Rinoa bowed, she felt awkward in front of the prince. She stood up again and waited to be told what to do next.

Ellone had seen Rinoa's uneasiness addressing Squall. "Don't worry about him. He's just a party pooper." Ellone said with a friendly smile on her face.

Rinoa began to feel slightly more relaxed. She liked this Ellone. She was nice.

"Now to give you a tour of the place! Squall, could you do me a favor and take Rinoa's bags to her room? Thanks, bro!"

With that Ellone ushered Rinoa away to look at the castle. Rinoa chanced a look back to see what oh, what was his name? Yes, Squall. To see what Squall was doing. He didn't say anything at Ellone, just silently lifted Rinoa's luggage and followed Alfred down a separate hall.

_I hope I don't run into him anymore._ Rinoa thought to herself as Ellone started talking way too fast to keep up with.

**A/N** I'm pretty sure that was one of the longest chapters I've ever written. This one didn't come as easy as the last one did. I hope it was ok! Well, you know the drill, please review!! And thanks for reading.

Hoshi

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	3. A Princess and a Cowboy

**A/N** Sorry it took so long for this chapter! I've been like super busy! Well, enjoy!

**Two Worlds**

**A Princess and a Cowboy**

As Rinoa was dragged througout the entire palace, she attempted to remember where everything was, but soon gave up as it seemed the building had no end. Suddenly, Rinoa's guide dragged her into a room with large double doors. When Rinoa entered she stood dumbfounded. She had just walked into what was obviously a dining hall with gorgeous marble floors and large stone pillars on the side. In the center of the room was a long stone table with many chairs placed around it. On the ceiling, which was quite hard to see because it was so high up, was a beautiful mural like those that you would see in ancient churches.

Ellone finally noticed Rinoa standing perfectly still, her eyes slowly taking everything in. The princess let out a light chuckle. "I'm guessing that you're not used to this kind of stuff?"

Rinoa was snapped out of her trance-like state and quickly looked at Ellone. "No, I guess I'm not. Do you eat here?"

"Only when I have to. Are you hungry?"

Rinoa was about to answer 'no' when she suddenly realized that, yes, she was very hungry! "Um, yeah, kind of. Is that okay?" She asked timidly.

Ellone chuckled again. "No, it's not okay for you to be hungry!" She said teasingly. "Come on, I'll show you where we usually eat." Rinoa followed Ellone to a back corner of the room where a door that was specially designed to blend in with the cream colored walls was located. Rinoa was shocked to see that the room inside was not that big and had a simple kitchenette with a small table with four chairs seated around it. "This is where we usually eat." Ellone told her.

"We? We as in who?" Rinoa asked feeling more comfortable in the familiar atmosphere.

"We as in me, Squall, and our friends." Ellone answered simply while opening the refrigerator door and peering in.

_That scary dude has friends?_ Rinoa couldn't help the thought that entered her mind, but she immediately felt ashamed after thinking it.

"So, what do you like to eat?" Ellone asked with her head burried inside the frige.

"I don't care. Um, do you have cheese? And maybe some apple juice?"

Ellone mumbled an 'ummm...' as she rummaged through all the food. "Yup! You're in luck! We have both." Ellone handed Rinoa a block of cheese and a bottle of apple juice before grabbing a package of bologna and a bottle of mustard for herself.

"That's an odd snack." Rinoa pointed out rather bluntly. _Uh oh. I'm getting too comfortable, I'm going to upset her._

Rinoa's fears were soon subdued as Ellone openly laughed. "I'm glad to see that you're getting more comfortable with me! And yes, I know it's an odd snack, my brother always makes sure to tell me whenever he can."

"You mean the prince?" Rinoa wan't quite sure why she asked the question.

"Yes, well, one of the princes. You see, I have two brothers. Squall, my younger and quited moody brother, and then there's Zeme, who is older than me by a year and is quite the opposite of Squall, but not quite like me." Rinoa was slightly surprised to hear about another brother. She didn't know why, but the thought of another brother just never crossed her mind. "Zeme's actually quite funny. I should introduce you to him sometime!"

Rinoa nodded, a thought suddenly occurring to her. "Why are you being so nice and stuff? I mean, you're royalty right? So, why waste your time on the new help?" Rinoa hadn't ment for it to come out exactly like that, but it didn't seem to bother Ellone because she just shrugged.

"Because I like meeting new people I guess. Plus, it's not really that big of a deal, you know, being the princess and all. It's just a title slapped on to the front of my name; doesn't really mean anything." Ellone paused and then continued. "Kind of like those awful stereotypes, ya know? Oh crap, now I'm beginning to sound like Raijin." Ellone slapped her forehead in frustration. This caused Rinoa to cock her head slightly to the side with a confused look on her face. Ellone looked up and, realizing the reason for Rinoa's confusion, quickly explained. "Raijin is one of the Military Police and has this awful habit of saying 'ya know' after like every sentence."

Rinoa nodded her head in understanding. Maybe it wouldn't be so hard to live here. She'd only been here like a half an hour and she had already made a potential friend, even if this potential friend was the princess of the second most powerful nation in the world. She liked Ellone. She seemed friendly and normal enough. They continued with more idle chit chat when the door opened to reveal a tall young man, about Rinoa's age with a cowboy hat on that he tipped politely.

"Hey, Elle, and who is this lovely young woman?" The stranger a little too nicely for Rinoa's liking.

"Hey, Irvine. This is Rinoa, and cool your jets before you get any ideas! She's the new help, we don't need to scare her away on her first day working here." Ellone said mockingly.

Irvine looked at Rinoa, "Have you met Squall yet?" Rinoa nodded her head signaling that, yes, she had. "Well, seems to me that you shouldn't be worried about me there, Elle."

Ellone just rolled her eyes, "Oh, please! I don't have to worry about Squall because he probably won't even try to talk to her. You on the other hand," Ellone sighed then directed her next comment towards Rinoa, "If you have any sense, you'd be wise to stay away from Irvy. He's bad news."

Irvine bowed his head in defeat, "Oh, come on, Elle. Give the girl a chance to know me."

"I don't know if I want that chance. It seems Ellone has a pretty scary picture of you and I'm not sure I like it." Rinoa stated, joining in on the teasing.

Irvine looked shocked and then clutched his heart in pretend pain. "Ouch! That hurt, man! That really hurt! Oh well, nothing a little soda can't handle." With that, Irvine opened the frige and pulled out a bottle of coke and began drinking it straight from the bottle.

"Ew! Irvine! How many times have we told you not to do that?! It's so gross!" Ellone's face twisted with disgust as Irvined downed the rest of the bottle.

"Yup, that hit the spot! Hey, have you seen Selphie? I got to talk to her, and I've been looking for her all day."

Ellone laughed, "Wow, Irvine, talk about an abrupt topic change! No, I haven't seen her."

Irvine sighed, "Alright, curse you and you're huge palace." He said jokingly. "Well, it was nice meeting you Rinoa." Irvine tipped his hat and walked out of the door.

"Well, he's interesting." Rinoa said and then laughed.

"Yeah, he's another one of the help. The girl he was talking about, Selphie, she's another maid like yourself. I think you might actually be rooming with her." Rinoa smiled. Maybe these people weren't so bad. "Hey, I'm going to meet up with my friends a little later, do you want to come?"

Rinoa considered this. "Yeah, sure! I'd love to."

Rinoa's answer seemed to please Ellone as she smiled. "Great! I'll come to your room in a few hours."

After this, Ellone lead Rinoa to her room and left her to get ready.

**A/N **Wahoo!! I did it! My third chapter! I hope it was good.

Special thanks to all my reviewers!

BeautifulxxDisaster

Adamas Max

And to Renegade Seraph for reviewing and being my beta-er! (Not a word I know, but it will be! Haha.)

Hoshi

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	4. New Friends

**Two Worlds**

_**Chapter Four: New Friends**_

**A/N **I'm so, so, so, so, SO sorry for how long it's taken me to get this chapter out!! I have been SO busy with school and haven't had time to write this. A couple of things though. I noticed I made a mistake in chapter two I think it was, where I mentioned Tony and Chesther. That was my bad. They are from something else. I fixed it though! So, yeah, sorry if I confuzzled you there! Well, here it is! Chapter four!

Rinoa looked around the room she had just walked into. She was in a small sitting area that was equipped with a television, couch, some comfy chairs, and other things you would see in a typical living room. The walls were a baby blue and the furniture was white with yellow throw pillows.

There were two doors on either side of the room. She approached the one on the left and opened it. Inside was a smaller room with one canopy bed, a dresser and a desk with a closed laptop on it. The room was a pale green with beige trim. The canopy on the bed was yellow, along with the bedspread.

She went to the second room to find everything was white, except for the wooden bed and dresser. She guessed that this was her room and that she was going to have to decorate it herself. On the bed were her suitcases with a little note next to them. She picked it up and it read:

"Miss Rinoa,

I hope you find your room satisfactory. You are free for tonight to do as you wish, but tomorrow you need to report to the kitchen to meet up with Ulga at seven.

-Alfred

P.S. I really do hope that you like it here, and that you stay for a long while. I think your bubbly personality will be good for the palace."

Rinoa couldn't help but smile after she read the note. Just as she was putting it down, she heard the door open and then close in the living room. She walked out to find a girl, about her own age she would have guessed, clad in jeans and a yellow top with short, flippy, very flippy, brown hair.

The girl turned and, when she saw Rinoa, jumped a little bit.

"Hi! You must be my new roomy! I'm Selphie." The girl spoke so fast it took Rinoa a moment to process what she said.

Rinoa shook Selphie's hand, "Hi, I'm Rinoa. Hey, um, someone was looking for you earlier. His name was Irvine."

Selphie sighed and rolled her eyes.

"He still doesn't get that I'm mad at him! Gurr, that guy," she proceeded to put her hands on her hips and shake her head. "Anyway, so how'd you meet Irvy?"

"Ellone was showing me around this huge place when we got hungry. So we went to the kitchen to get something to eat. While we were eating Irvine walked in and he took the liberty to introduce himself."

"So, Ellone's already given you a run-down of the place, huh? Did she invite you with us tonight?"

"Yeah, you're going too?"

"Yupperoos! I sure am! Are you all ready? We have to leave in an hour."

"No, I'm not even unpacked yet."

"Oh, I could help you! Then I'll help you choose what to wear, and I really want to do something with your hair! It looks so nice! I love playing with hair."

Rinoa chuckled. She liked Selphie. She seemed to like everyone here. Selphie was funny, bubbly, and she seemed pretty confident with herself. Rinoa hoped that she conveyed the same impression onto Selphie without seeming shy. Rinoa wanted to do this, but she was always so shy around new people. She was never herself, but that would change. Right then, Rinoa made a silent vow to herself that she would show people who she really was and just be herself, starting now.

"I would be honoured to let you play with my hair." Both girls shared a giggle as they walked into Rinoa's bland room.

Selphie piped up, "Looks like we'll need to do some room shopping at some point too!"

"Yeah, I don't think I've ever seen a room so white. I can't live with this!"

The girls proceeded to chat and unpack Rinoa's stuff. Once they were finished, they began getting ready for the night to come. Rinoa was glad for Selphie telling her what she would wear because she really didn't know what to expect. She was going out with the prince, princess, and they're personal friends. Were they always formal? Or were they crazy? They didn't seem like the formal type. Well, maybe with the prince as an exception.

Rinoa and Selphie finally decided on a pair of jeans, sneakers, and a red long sleeve shirt for Rinoa. And for Selphie they decided on short shorts, flip-flops, and a chocobo t-shirt.

When they finished that, Selphie insisted on doing Rinoa's hair. The petite girl became almost scary as she attacked the black pile of hair. She twisted it this way and that. Experimenting for a while before she got a decisive look on her face and began the real work. She took about half of Rinoa's hair from the top and tied it back. Then she grabbed the curler and began to curl the bottom part of Rinoa's hair vertically. When she was satisfied, she took out the top part of Rinoa's hair and straightened it as much as possible and tied it again neatly. Then Selphie brushed out Rinoa's bangs and stepped back to admire her work.

Rinoa was then allowed to look in the mirror and she caught her breath. She could've sworn that the girl in the mirror wasn't her. She looked…beautiful. If Rinoa had known what Selphie had had in mind, she would have protested. As it was, the odd hairstyle looked good, interesting and defiantly unique.

"So, whaddya think?" Selphie asked bouncing up and down in anticipation.

"I," she began, "love it! It's awesome! Selphie, how did you do it?" Rinoa turned to look at her new friend.

"Hehe, practice!"

Just then they heard a knock at their door.

"Who is it?" Selphie called.

"Squall,"

"He sounds excited." Rinoa sarcastically commented.

Selphie giggled and lowered her voice, "He's always like that." She then raised her voice so Squall could hear again, "Coming!" She bounded over to the door and opened it with Rinoa close behind.

"You know I could hear you, right? Seriously Selphie, it's impossible for you to be quiet," Squall said off-handedly as they began walking down the hall.

"Aw, come on Squally! Don't say that, that hurts!" Selphie then started fake pouting.

"I'll stop being like that once you stop calling me 'Squally.'" He spat the word out of his mouth like some kind of poison. Rinoa laughed at the way it sounded coming out of his mouth. Squall rolled his eyes. "Come on, the others are waiting and I'd like to get this night over with as soon as possible."

They walked down the hall toward their destination, Rinoa and Selphie whispering and giggling the whole time. It bothered Squall. He wanted to know what they were talking about and was hoping it wasn't him. Of course, he would never admit that, not even to himself.

They reached the front of the palace and walked out to an old SUV in the parking lot. Rinoa couldn't help herself, "We're riding in THAT?"

Selphie giggled, "Yeah, it's Zell's. He always insists on driving when we go out, but, as you can tell, he's really bad so we always make him use his own car."

Rinoa nodded and was making her way toward the car when a blonde guy with crazy hair and a bold tattoo on his face jumped out from behind it.

"There you guys are! What took you so long? We've been waiting for like ever!"

As if on cue, Ellone, Irvine, and a girl Rinoa didn't recognize came out from behind the vehicle.

The girl Rinoa didn't know spoke up, "Zell, Squall left about two minutes ago. You're just too impatient," She said matter-of-factly. She had long blonde hair and glasses. She was taller than Rinoa, but shorter than Squall. She looked a little older than the rest. The girl caught sight of Rinoa and waved. "Hi, you must be Rinoa, I'm Quistis."

"Hi, Quistis, it's nice to meet you."

Zell jumped in front of Rinoa, "Hey, I'm Zell." The boy proceeded to rub his hand on his pants then stick it out for Rinoa to shake.

She grasped it firmly and shook it. Zell looked ecstatic.

"Hah! You guys said I'd never get someone to shake my hand, but I have! That'd be fifty gil Irvine."

The cowboy grumbled something inaudible as he pulled out the money and gave it to Zell.

Everyone except Squall chuckled. Ellone spoke for the first time, "Well, now that we have all that out of the way. Shall we cram into Zell's ugly jeep and have a night of fun?"

Everyone agreed and started getting in the SUV when Zell realized what Ellone had said. "Hey! It's not ugly! It's just been used a lot."

"Selphie rolled her eyes. Sure Zell, whatever you say!"

**A/N** Well, there it is, finally. I haven't decided yet, should I write about the night out? Or should I skip to the next day and just reference it? Let me know when you review!!

Thanks to my reviewers!!

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Nagia Heartilly

And specialist thanks to Renegade Seraph for reviewing and beta-ing!!! Thanks for doing an amazing job!! (I stole your sentence. I hope you don't mind!)

Thanks so much!!

Hoshi

VV


	5. A Night on the Town part one

**Two Worlds**

_A Night on the Town Part One:_

Roller Skating is easy, right?

**A/N** Hey there, Hoshi again! I just want to say sorry to Nagia Heartilly specifically for not getting this chapter out when I promised. I also realized that I haven't done a disclaimer in a while! Ahem…_**Neither Final Fantasy, nor any of its wonderful characters belong to me. They unfortunately lie in the possession of Square Enix/Soft. If I did own them, there would SO be a Final Fantasy VIII movie!!**_

Rinoa flinched as Selphie's elbow was driven into her side once again. It was very crowded in the beat up SUV. There were only seven seats in the vehicle, which was a problem because it left no room for personal space or the various belongings of the group. Of course Zell was driving with Quistis in the front seat next to him. Quistis always sat in the front with Zell, seeing as she was the only one with enough patience to give him directions to wherever they were going. In the two middle seats were Squall and Ellone. In the back seats were Rinoa, Selphie, and Irvine sitting in that order.

The whole ride was relatively uneventful. Zell got frustrated and lost, while the always calm Quistis tried to explain to him where to go. Ellone was constantly talking to anyone who would listen, and even if no one was listening, she just kept talking. Squall stared out the window, trying to find peace in the hectic vehicle, and Rinoa watched with fascination as Selphie beat on Irvine and wondered how they maintained a good relationship.

Eventually the SUV started slowing down as they arrived at their destination. All seven teens poured out of the car with relief. It was nice to have some room, for their own personal bubbles. Rinoa looked up with interest as to where they were. The building in front of her was kind of shabby looking and in the middle of nowhere. It had an old neon sign that said something like "R l r Pal e." Rinoa puzzled over the meaning of it when she realized that it was supposed to say "Roller Palace." They were going roller skating!

Rinoa tried to stifle a sigh as she realized how awful this was going to be. She wasn't known as the most graceful person on her feet, let along on rolling wheels. Then a thought hit her. She was with the prince, princess, and their personal friends. She was going to make a fool of herself! This was not good.

"Woo hoo! I'm so excited! Guys, we haven't been here in like, forever!" Selphie exclaimed disturbing Rinoa's thoughts and jumping up and down. All the teens began making their way to the old building.

When inside, Rinoa began to wonder why they even went to this place. It was old, very old. You could see cracks in the sheet rock and most of the windows were boarded up from the neighborhood kids playing practical jokes by breaking them. It smelled kind of bad too.

"How did you guys find this place?" Rinoa inquired resisting the urge to hold her nose.

"Actually, it was Squall who found it." Quistis stated matter-of-factly. "Come to think of it, how did you find this place, Squall?"

All eyes turned to the young prince. He just shrugged which acquired a sigh from everyone else.

"Come on, Squall! How did you find it?" Ellone piped up.

The defeated Commander hung his head. He knew they weren't going to shut up until he told them. He was trying to decide how to tell them without _telling_ them.

"I was out, and just happened to stumble across it one day."

The others all shared another sigh. He was impossible. "Whatever," Zell piped up, "let's not let the Commander's anti-people-ness deter our fun tonight."

Everyone smiled and agreed as they went to the counter to get their skates. They all told the guy at the counter their sizes and promptly received the used, smelly skates.

Rinoa decided that she had the courage to ask them all a question, "How come you guys like this place so much? No offense, but it's kinda'…old."

Irvine was the one to answer her question. "We have lots of memories here. We used to come here all the time when we were kids, and plus it's nice to get away from the stuffiness and richness of the palace sometimes."

"Yeah, guys, remember that time when Squall ordered the french fries?" Zell asked with a smile on his face. Rinoa heard a roar of laughter erupt from the group followed by everyone saying 'yeah;' everyone except Squall that is. He just kind of rolled his eyes and looked away. He's obviously heard this story repeated a million times.

Rinoa decided to be brave and ask what had happened. "Well," Zell began, "Squall was hungry, like always, so he decided to order some fries. He got them and some catsup to go with it. He went to shake the ketchup bottle to make sure that it wasn't all liquidy and, it just so happened, that the bottle was open and it went all over him. It was so funny!"

"Yeah, I have a picture too!" Selphie chimed in, pulling out her phone. Squall was obviously irritated at the fact that Selphie possessed said picture and quickly stood up.

"Hey, where are you going?" Ellone asked.

"I'm hungry." Everyone laughed again. Squall was perplexed for a moment then sighed at his own stupidity and left.

"I told you he's always hungry!" Zell said.

"Here, I found it!" Selphie exclaimed after searching through tons of pictures. Rinoa leaned over to look at it and couldn't help the laughter escaping her lips. There he was, Squall Leonhart, prince of Dissinile, and Commander of the army, drenched in catsup. It looked like the bottle literally exploded on him. He had a _very_ frustrated look on his face and a catsup bottle in one hand. The ironic thing of the picture was the fact that there was absolutely no catsup on the plate of fries sitting in front of him.

"Now that's funny." stated Rinoa. The rest of the group went over to join Squall with his cheeseburger.

"Hey, Squall, would you like some catsup with that?" Irvine asked waving a bottle in Squall's face. He just ignored the cowboy and proceeded to take a huge bite out of the messy burger.

A little later, they had all had a snack and successfully fastened their skates to their feet, everyone except Squall that is. He refused to skate. Everyone would joke and say it was just because he probably stunk, but that wasn't the case. The real reason was simply because he didn't want to.

Rinoa very slowly started getting up from her seat trying not to fall on her new wheels. She almost lost her balance when Irvine was nice enough to catch her.

"Thanks, Irvine." Rinoa mumbled.

"Here," Selphie said as she stuck out her arm for Rinoa to latch onto, "hold on to me. I'll keep you from falling!" She said smiling. Rinoa obliged gratefully.

They made their way out onto the rink. There weren't very many people skating, which was good news to Rinoa. The three made their way around a few times until Irvine complained about the girls going too slow.

"Fine, go on ahead, Irvy!" Selphie said spitefully. Irvine didn't seem to have a problem with the tone of her voice so he just went on to catch up with Zell.

Rinoa was suddenly startled by someone latching onto her waist. She turned around, getting ready to yell and smack whoever it was, when she saw that it was Ellone with Quistis holding onto Ellone's waist.

Great, they were starting a chain. Rinoa thought that she was going to die. She would not be the lead. That in mind she quickly grabbed Selphie's waist making the small peppy girl the lead.

It didn't take long for the girls' chain to grow. The boys quickly caught on and eventually all the people skating joined the teens. Rinoa couldn't remember the last time she laughed so hard. Curse her laughing, for it was going to be her doom.

She began laughing so hard that she began to lose her balance and fall. She tried to stop herself, but only succeeded in bringing down the whole chain with her. Selphie, Quistis, and Ellone all fell on top of her. Unfortunately, that wasn't the worst of it. She was in a very awkward position sitting on her ankle. The extra force pushed her whole body on top of it and she heard a series of pops followed by immense pain. She cried out, trying to tell everyone to get off.

Selphie screamed in terror as she realized what was happening to Rinoa. Selphie had a habit of over exaggerating everything. She promptly began to shove everyone off of the trapped girl, with more urgency than necessary.

"Oh my gosh! Rinoa are you okay?" Selphie asked as she approached the injured girl.

Rinoa tried to resist crying as she began unlatching her skate. Quistis, finally realizing the situation, was quick to bend down and gently help the younger girl. After much struggling and a few escaped tears, they successfully got the blasted thing off. Rinoa's ankle was already dark blue and majorly swollen. Rinoa began to panic as she realized that she wasn't able to move it.

The dark-haired girl began breathing quickly, almost to the point of hyperventilating. Ellone quietly shushed her as she gently put her hand on her shoulder. Rinoa began to calm down and realize that she actually could move it, just not that much because of how swollen it was.

"Do we need to take you to the emergency room?" Quistis asked slowly.

Rinoa felt guilty. She didn't want to ruin the guys' night. Then she realized that if it was broken then she should probably get it checked out. She took a couple more seconds to inspect the injured joint and try to move it again. When she realized that it was way too painful to move, she sighed. "I should probably get it checked out, but not yet. You guys go ahead and skate. I'll get it checked tomorrow. I mean, you probably have at least a nurse at the palace, right?"

"Well, yeah, we have a whole medical staff, but-" Ellone started.

Rinoa quickly shook her head and put her hand up, "No 'buts,' I'll be fine. Just help me get to one of the chairs near the food, get me some cheese, and then I'll be fine." She said with a smile.

Quistis, Selphie, and Ellone all grinned and began trying to figure out how they were going to get her off of the floor, and they decided that one of the guys would do it. They all agreed that Zell shouldn't do it with his track record, but Irvine was…well Irvine. Then Ellone lit up with an idea. The brunette rolled off for a scary five seconds before they heard a very loud 'PLEASE.' Another minute later, Ellone came rolling around the corner with a large triumphant smile on her face and was followed closely by a very annoyed looking Squall.

Rinoa's breath caught in her throat as she realized what was happening. She couldn't help but stare as the prince was coming closer, hands in his pockets, and with an expression that could kill. _I have to move! I can't let him kill me!! Wait, pull it together, Rinoa! He's not going to kill you, is he?_ She looked up into his face as he, surprisingly, very gently stooped down and picked her up. He was careful to avoid the injured foot as he gently adjusted her so she would be more comfortable and wouldn't fall.

Rinoa's head hit against his warm chest and she jumped and tensed into a little ball, doing so only succeeded in hurting her ankle and she let out a moan. Squall's first instinct was that it was his fault and he quickly apologized.

He looked down at the girl and saw her scared face and immediately felt guilty for it. _Wait a second. Since when do I feel guilty about something that Ellone made me do?_ He quickly shook the thought away and proceeded to walk off of the floor.

As he disappeared, the group watching (A.K.A. Irvine, Zell, Selphie, Quistis, and Ellone) all smiled.

"Hey, Ellone, how did you get him to do that?" Zell had the ability of asking questions that no one else dared to ask.

She shrugged, "I threatened to tell the maids to stop buying oranges, orange juice, or anything that had to do with oranges." The whole group began slapping themselves in the head and laughing.

"Leave it up to Squall, huh guys?" Irvine said shaking his head. "Well, let's skate, shall we?" They all nodded in agreement.

Squall gently sat Rinoa in a chair. He then got another chair and took off his coat and placed it on the chair. Rinoa looked at him puzzled when he picked up her foot and propped it on his jacket. Squall then just walked away towards the food counter and began talking to the lady about something.

His actions puzzled Rinoa. She began to ponder them, but was interrupted by his return. Rinoa quickly looked up as he placed a small pack of ice wrapped in a paper towel on her ankle. He sat down across from her and began drinking his soda. Rinoa couldn't help her curiosity and amazement, "Why?" was the only thing she said.

Squall stopped drinking from his cup and, for a minute, Rinoa thought he wasn't going to answer, and then he shrugged, "Because sprained ankles suck."

"How do you know it's not broken?" He shrugged again.

"I just do." He began sucking down his drink again. Rinoa shook her head, mouth open, in amazement. This guy was so weird. He seems all mean and like he's going to kill you one second, but by the other, he's really nice and getting ice for you and using his own jacket to put your gross, sweaty foot on: amazing.

An awkward silence followed; both teens' thoughts were preoccupied at that moment. Rinoa was lost in the depths of her own mind as a familiar song came on over the speakers. She knew that song so well. It was her mother's song. The song she wrote so long ago, and the song she used to sing Rinoa to sleep every night when she was little.

……..

Squall stared at the girl as he saw a small sorrow filled smile creep onto her pale face. Just as he was becoming trapped in that smile, he heard a small hum emanate from her throat. He realized that she was humming with the song that was playing. Her chocolate eyes danced with long-forgotten memories as she stirred her soda with no realization of where she was. She looked as if she was back many years ago, when life was easy and you had no worries.

The prince felt ridiculous, as he could do nothing but stare at her face with her deep brown eyes and pink lips. Her voice floated to his ears in a sweet melody. Squall found himself forgetting everything, the fact that he didn't even want to be here, his troubles at home, and the intense stuffiness in the small, old building. But all too quickly it was over.

Both Squall and Rinoa felt ripped out of a trance. The Commander watched in fascination as the girl's cheeks turned the slightest shade of red. "My mother," she began, "used to sing that song to me when I was little to help me sleep."

Squall responded with a barely noticeable twitch that was supposed to be a nod.

"It was beautiful…." Was all he managed to get out. Rinoa looked up quickly and their eyes met for what seemed like an eternity. Her dark, emotional eyes locked with his stormy, clouded blue eyes.

"Hey, guys!" they quickly snapped back to looking down as Zell came rolling over to them. "We're ready to leave. We want to head to a restaurant! Let's go!"

Rinoa smiled at him as she saw that it was decided. One thought went through her mind about what had just happened.

_What was that?_

**A/N **_Final Fantasy victory music plays. _Yes! I FINALLY finished this! It was SO hard to get out! I was practically beating my head to get ideas of how to write this chapter. I'm pretty pleased with how it came out! Plus, it's my longest chapter yet! Yay! Kudos for me! This was longer, but it was too long so I shortened it. So this is technically part one of 'A Night on the Town.' Thanks so much for sticking with me guys!

Thanks to my reviewers!!

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Nagia Heartilly (I'm SO sorry!! Please forgive me!)

And special thanks to Renegade Seraph for beta-ing!!!!!!

Hoshi

VV


	6. A Night on the Town part two

**Two Worlds**

_**Chapter six: A Night on the Town part two**_

_**Questions**_

**A/N **I apologize for the wait on this chapter. I actually started writing this immediately after I posted my last chapter, but things came up. First, I lost what I had written, so I was discouraged and didn't write again for a while. Then, when I was ready to start again, my family suffered a terrible tragedy. Then there were the holidays, which were twice as busy/hard because of this tragedy. So, here I am, finally posting this long-over-due chapter. Enjoy!

"Um, guys," Rinoa called as Irvine, Zell, Selphie, and Quistis were all almost out the door. How was she supposed to get up? "Guys!" Rinoa sighed, exasperated, they didn't hear her. "Okay, fine, I'll just hang out here for a bit!"

Rinoa felt her foot being lifted again and saw Squall taking his jacket. He threw it over his shoulder before approaching her and gently lifting her as before, to carry her out. He was silent the whole time and his eyes looked distant.

They got out of the building and saw that everyone had already gotten into the car. Squall shifted Rinoa so he was holding her with one arm and opened the side door. He gently placed her in the closest seat to them, and went around to the other side, opened the door, and got in.

"Oops, sorry Rinoa, we forgot that you couldn't walk." Zell said.

_He's not good at lying. _Rinoa decided. Zell was obviously trying to cover up. In fact, it was so obvious that he received a smack from Quistis that was followed by Zell asking, very loudly, what he had done. He just received rolled eyes from Quistis and Rinoa could hear sighs coming from the back seat.

Rinoa looked back to Squall to see what his reaction was. He looked as if he was in his own world, so separate from Rinoa's. She just stared at the back of his head as he looked out the window. Little did she know, the people in the back seat were taking all of this in, and forming a plot. The three in the back all made eye contact and smiled. They were all thinking the same thing.

"So," Irvine started, "where are we going?"

"Oh, oh, oh, pick me, pick me!" Selphie said bouncing up and down with her hand raised.

Irvine acted like he was deciding something. "Hmm, how about...okay Selphie?"

"I want to go to Julian's!" She said excited.

Irvine shrugged, "Works for me, how 'bout everyone else?" Everyone nodded in agreement. "To Julian's it is! Get driving, Dincht!"

Zell did a sloppy salute, "Yes, sir!" he said.

"What is Julian's?" Rinoa asked.

"You've never heard of Julian's?" Selphie asked a little more dramatically than needed.

Rinoa shook her head. "No, I did just arrive here today, and I've never been to this country before."

Selphie chuckled, "Oh yeah."

"So, we all set back there, or do I need to wait another hour to start driving?" Zell yelled unnecessarily loud to the back seat.

"We're golden, Zell! Go ahead!" Ellone yelled just as unnecessarily loud as Zell did.

The car sputtered as Zell started the piece of junk up. It jerked forward with some urging from Zell. The trip to Julian's was about ten minutes. Nothing really happened within those ten minutes. Just a lot of talking and arguing from the back seat, and loud music from the front of the car mixed with Quistis' voice rising above the noise of the music, asking Zell to turn it off. From the middle seat, came no sound. Squall sat, staring out his window with a look in his eyes that made it seem the he could see to the very edge of the world.

Rinoa sat, fascinated with everything around her. These people were so…similar. They were just like everyone where she came from, and yet…so different. There was some strange feel about them. They were friendly and welcoming to Rinoa, especially since she was an outsider, but you could tell that their relationships with each other were much different. They all seemed so connected in deeper ways than Rinoa had ever experienced in her life. Her curiosity was piqued. She was now determined to find out more about these people, no matter what.

The ride passed quickly, and before she knew it, Rinoa found herself attempting to open the door of the vehicle to get out. Rinoa sighed in frustration; she hated being helpless. She was going to make it to that restaurant by herself if it was the last thing she did. Besides, she had to keep some strand of dignity.

With a resolute look, and a new air of determination, Rinoa hoisted herself out of the vehicle, onto her good foot. She swung the door shut and took a deep breath for the struggle to come. She pushed off of the side of the SUV and began hopping to the entrance of the restaurant. She was less than half way there when she tripped on a rock and fell with a thud to the ground; so much for dignity.

Everyone turned around to see her lying face down on the tar. They all waited for movement of some kind. After a very long five seconds, she stirred.

"Ouch," was all that came from her mouth as she sat up and rubbed her newly skinned knees, palms, and elbows.

Quistis reached down to help her, "You could've asked for help you know."

"Yeah, I know." Rinoa replied unenthusiastically.

Rinoa successfully made it inside the building and to a booth with the help of Quistis and Selphie. Once they had all gotten settled in with Quistis, Ellone, and Rinoa on one side of the booth, Zell, Selphie, and Irvine on the other side, and Squall sitting on the end in a chair, Selphie began bouncing up and down in her seat.

"I'm so excited! We haven't been out in forever! We seriously need to do this more often!" Selphie said with as much enthusiasm as possible. The only response she got were subtle grunts as people were deeply involved in finding out what they were going to eat.

Rinoa picked up the menu, and began scanning. She finally decided on a chicken wrap with a side of coleslaw. There was a silence that was soon broken by minor chatting that soon developed into a full-fledged conversation.

"What do you guys do at the palace?" Rinoa inquired, sincerely curious.

Selphie perked right up at the thought of an opportunity to talk forever, "Well, I work as a maid, but don't think that it's as simple as that. There are different kinds of maids. I'm a cooking maid! I help in the kitchen. You know, stuff like doing the shopping, assisting the chef, and lots of other stuff! Then there are the laundry maids, cleaning, and personal assistance maids. Personal assistance maids are directly in charge of making their masters happy. There are some butlers too. Like Alfred, he assists Squall, a girl named Elizabeth assists Ellone, and a guy named Chesther assists Zeme."

Rinoa nodded her head in understanding, "Do you know what I'm going to be doing?"

Selphie thought for a moment, "No, actually I don't. Ellone, do you?"

Ellone shrugged her shoulders, "I have no idea, Ulga will know. I'm pretty sure you have to meet with her tomorrow morning," she said turning towards Rinoa.

Rinoa nodded again, "How 'bout you guys?" She asked gesturing towards Zell, Irvine, and Quistis.

Zell spoke first, "I clean. I'm a janitor basically. It's a bit more complicated than that, but that's basically it."

"I'm a chef!" Irvine said with pride. This took Rinoa by surprise. She didn't know why, but it shocked her that Irvine was, of all things, a chef.

"And you, Quistis?" Rinoa inquired after recovering from her small shock.

Quistis stirred her drink with her straw, "I'm an instructor," she paused, "for the military I mean. Not a school instructor, well, I guess I kind of do that too…it's complicated."

"We all are in the military technically," Zell said, "Any worker in the palace is required to have a decent military status and background."

Rinoa looked confused, "But I don't have any military status whatsoever," she stated.

Irvine answered, "Ah, but you do have political status. You are the first exception to the military rule in a very long time, but that is only because of your position in the political affairs."

"Oh," was all she said. That prospect didn't exactly make her very happy. Was that all she was? A political tool, used to achieve whatever it is that the government wanted? A sudden overwhelming sense of gloominess came flooding like a wave over her.

Rinoa didn't feel like asking any more questions, and she didn't have to. Right then, their food came, and they all ate and talked of different things. They were getting ready for dessert when they heard a cell phone go off. It was coming from Squall.

The commander pulled the device out to see who it was. When he saw who it was, a look of despair flashed across his face, but was quickly concealed as he excused himself and walked out of earshot to answer it.

"Uh oh," Ellone said depressingly. Everyone sighed as if someone just died.

Rinoa looked around confused. "What? What is it?"

"It's the king," was all that Ellone said.

Squall soon came back and informed them that they had to get back to the palace immediately. The mood was instantly dampened as they got up and headed out to Zell's SUV. The whole trip home was silent, and Rinoa couldn't understand why.

When they arrived at the palace, there were soldiers waiting for Squall to arrive. Rinoa overheard them tell Squall that they were to escort him to the king's office at once. Rinoa noted that these men were different from the people that she had spent the night with. These men were cold, emotionless, and just like Rinoa had heard the Death people described as.

**A/N** *sigh* There! I know it's not that long, but I just needed to get another chapter out. Well, I hope it was satisfactory! I know it wasn't one of my best, but I needed to get the night out over with.

Hoshi


	7. Relationship between King and Commander

**A/N **Yay! Finally, I have finished it! I actually finished this a few days ago, but first my internet was down, and then my computer crashed (again!)! I was so upset, but I have finally gotten this chapter to you. I think that with this chapter I have finally cured my writer's block! Yay! So, yeah, here it is! Enjoy!

**Two Worlds**

_Chapter Seven: The Relationship between King and Commander_

Squall didn't resist as the soldiers dragged him into the castle and down the many halls to greet the king. Well, maybe 'greet' wasn't the right word. Maybe 'go seek his punishment for something that he didn't do that will inevitably bring him to his imminent doom' was better, yeah, that fit the description more.

As they were on their way to the king's office, Squall couldn't help but notice how young the soldier was that was leading him. The boy looked about thirteen, maybe as old as fifteen, but still so young. Squall's face involuntarily twisted in a scowl of disgust. Every year they were lowering the minimum age, when signing the military contract. It was bad enough that one boy that was born from every family had to be in the military for a minimum of five years. What was next? Were they going to comb the schools for more children to spill their blood in battle? Were they going to start arresting the mothers who would refuse to let their sons join the military because of the certainty that those boys would grow up too fast, or not even be able to grow up at all?

Squall's mind brought him back to when his father first started training him for the military. Squall had grown up alone. He had had no company except the weight of his gunblade in his hands. Yes, Squall wielded a gunblade, the most difficult weapon to master. Of course he used the gunblade! His father wouldn't have it any other way for the son that was to be the heir to the throne. Why did he have to be born last? He didn't want to be heir to the throne!

Dissinile was a strange country. The last born, whether male or female was always heir to the throne. The tradition started back when Dissinile was a penal colony just starting to revolt. Haschel Loire was leading the rebellion with his brother and sister, Leah and Vincent. Haschel was the oldest and Leah was the youngest. The two older siblings were very proud. This uncharacteristically strong pride turned into a great lust for power. Once Dissinile received its right as a free country, Haschel and his brother turned against the people with a plot to take over and rule together, but the brothers soon found that they did not want to share the power. Thus, they murdered each other in the end. Leah, with her humble and calm demeanour, took the place of her proud brothers. That is how the tradition started. Nobody knows if the story is true or not, but the law remains that the youngest will take the throne.

Squall's mind was shaken out of its wandering, as it was so often, when he realized that they had reached their destination. The young soldier that Squall had been noticing earlier was the one to approach the door and knock. Before the young lad could though, it opened to reveal Zeme, Squall's older brother. Ah, Zeme. Zeme was the only one completely loyal and supportive of Squall, and, contrary to what other's thought, Squall was the only one completely loyal and supportive of Zeme. The two brothers understood each other—no, they more than understood each other; they were like the two halves of one man. Squall the dark, and Zeme the light. There was no other way to describe it.

Squall turned to Zeme and saw his face was slightly paler than normal. That never boded well. That was the look Zeme got when he had to tell the king something very bad, which always put the king in a bad mood, which always meant that he would take it out on Squall. Zeme gave Squall an apologetic look that only he could catch and walked off. Sometimes, Squall felt bad for Zeme, he always blamed himself for when Squall got punished even though there was absolutely nothing he could do about it. Zeme, loyal Zeme.

The soldiers shoved Squall into the office and shut the door. King Laguna was leaning back in his office chair with his head propped on one hand like he always sat. His eyes were unmoving from Squall's face. He scrutinized his son with the utmost intensity. Finally, the king's eyes moved and he sighed. Squall saluted quickly and remained that way until the king told him to stand down. The office was filled with absolute silence as Squall waited for his majesty to speak.

Finally, the silence was broken. "Where have you been, commander?"

"I was working today, sir. Then I escorted the princess, sir." Squall replied indifferently.

"I see, and since when has the job of the commander of my military been to escort princesses and new maids might I ask?"

"Never, sir."

"So, why were you doing this?"

"Because, the princess asked me to, sir, and I was obeying her orders."

"Who told you to obey the princess's orders? Don't you think my orders carry more authority than hers?"

"Yes, sir, you're orders carry more importance than the princess'."

Laguna slammed the desk with his fist and stood up shouting, "Then why did you leave your office, soldier? You seem to know that your work is more important, so why did you leave?"

Squall thought for a moment, he honestly didn't know. Did he want to meet the new help? Did he want to go spend the night out with friends like a normal teenager? No, that couldn't possibly be it, could it? No, of course not! He did it to get on friendly terms with the general's daughter! That's why he did it, wasn't it?

Laguna calmed down and sat in his chair again, "So, you have no defense. Very well, you will be flogged and locked up for three days, then I have a very special assignment for you. Dismissed."

"Sir!" Squall saluted once more before leaving the office. Once outside the door, Squall was seized by the captain of military police, Seifer Almasy, and his subordinates, Raijin and Fujin.

Curse that man! Curse Seifer and the stupid king. Curse them all! Squall couldn't help the hate he felt towards his so called 'father.' For twelve years Squall had been beaten and locked up just to satisfy that man's hunger for blood! Twelve years, yes only twelve, for there was once a time that the king wasn't so cruel. Twelve years ago, when Squall was five, was when she died; she was a wonderful, beautiful queen, a loving wife, and kind mother all at the same time. The king had loved her dearly, but it seemed that all the love Laguna had for anything, died with his wife.

"Ah, commander, how good to see you again!" Seifer said as a malicious smile spread across his face. "Take him to the cell."

Squall said nothing to the captain as he was dragged to a cell that was more like home than his own palace. He knew Zeme would be waiting there, and that he would try to talk Seifer out of giving Squall the punishment that was soon to come. Zeme was there every time, even though it never worked, but he always tried no matter what. Squall couldn't help the tiny smirk that crept on his face as he thought of all the times that Zeme had been there for him; loyal Zeme.

Squall did nothing as they beat him with anything from metal pipes, to sharp swords. None of the injuries were life threatening in any way, but that didn't change how they increased the hatred within Squall, the growing evil and sense of revenge that had been creeping up from the darkest parts of his soul for so many years. Of all the enemies Squall had to face, his darkest one was located in the depths of his very being.

**A/N **Whoopee!! I did it! Well, please review! It will make me very happy!!

P.S. I want to thank my beta, Renegade Seraph, for doing such a wonderful job! She's so busy, yet she betas my writing so thoroughly! I couldn't do this without her! And read her stories! They are SO good!

Hoshi

VV


	8. A New Job

___**A/N**____ Oh, my word…I did it! Finally!!! I'm sooooo sorry for the long wait!!! But here it is!! Chapter EIGHT!!! :D_

_Chapter Eight: A New Job_

Rinoa could not keep her eyes off of the commander's back as he was escorted down the hall. What were they going to do to him? What did he do wrong? Was it her fault? All these questions and more came flooding into her mind at once. She was beginning to sort through them and figure out which one's she could answer, when she realized that the previously gloomy mood radiating from her new companions was now overwhelmingly dark.

She could not stand the suspense anymore; she had to know what was going on. "Guys, what exactly just happened?" It seemed like they didn't hear her, so she was getting ready to ask again when Irvine said something.

"How about Selphie explains it to you in your room, I'm going to bed." With that, the cowboy walked down a separate hall.

"Me too," Zell said as he followed after Irvine. Quistis didn't say anything, she instead just left quietly.

Rinoa turned to Selphie, confusion plastered all over her face. Selphie grabbed Rinoa's arm and started gently pulling her down the hall and said, "Come on, I'll explain when we get back to the room." Rinoa was about to say something, but shut her mouth before she did, deciding it was best to just wait until they got to the room to ask all of her questions.

When they arrived back at the room, Selphie went to the mini fridge they had in their living room and grabbed a couple of sodas, handed one to Rinoa, and beckoned Rinoa to follow her into her room. Rinoa obeyed and plopped herself down on Selphie's overstuffed bed.

Rinoa was just opening her mouth to say something when Selphie stopped her. "I know you have a lot of questions, but let me start by explaining just how things work around here, 'kay?" Rinoa nodded and Selphie took a deep breath and a quick drink of soda before continuing. "Well, not only is Squall the heir to the throne, but he is also the commander which puts a lot of pressure on him from everyone, even Irvine, Zell, Quistis, Ellone, and I sometimes put a little too much pressure on him. The worst offender though is the king, a.k.a. Squall's father. So, Squall being all stressed out and by-the-book is the result of all of this pressure.

"Now, the king is a very…uh…intense person to put it mildly. If Squall doesn't follow the king's instructions to a 't,' then Squall gets in some serious trouble. Not only does Squall have to follow his orders perfectly, but he also has to basically predict what the king wants based on his mood, which is a very difficult thing to do seeing as the king has many 'moods.' If Squall doesn't predict the king's exact thoughts, then he's in even more serious trouble."

"That's terrible! How is anyone supposed to predict what someone wants them to do? That's not fair! And what kind of serious trouble does Squall get into? What were those soldiers going to do to him? You know, the ones that dragged him away right after he stepped out of the car?" Rinoa cut in.

Selphie put up her hand, waving it back and forth signaling for Rinoa to slow down, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, way too many questions, way too fast! I'll get to all of that in a minute." Selphie took another swig of her soda before continuing, "As for how it isn't fair, yes, I know it isn't, but that's the whole point. Squall doesn't exactly have a life of luxury here, contrary to what most people think. To put it simply, Squall's life sucks, and that's putting it very mildly. I'm not talking about the sucks when your parents won't let you go to see a movie with your friends, I'm talking about the sucks that refers to getting punished by brutal beating if you have even an ounce of fun. Okay, maybe not that extreme, Squall does get away with having fun every once in a while, but most of the time, he just prefers not to even risk it."

"So, wait, you're saying that his father beats him? I mean, the guy's probably pretty old, couldn't Squall take him? And what kind of father is that? Couldn't you guys like call the police or something?" Rinoa interrupted.

Selphie let out a huge sigh, "No, Laguna never actually beats Squall himself, but he could if he really wanted to. He usually has the captain of the military police do it with his little posse. Ugh, I hate that kid! Anyway, to answer another question no, Squall wouldn't be able to take the king even though he is getting older; the guy's a lot more powerful than you think, besides, most people would think that Squall was trying to usurp the throne or something. And no, it's not so simple as to call the police. You forget, Squalls father is the king, he rules the police."

"Oh, I see." Rinoa said with her eyes down-cast. She never would have guessed that Squall had to go through so much. Who would have thought that the prince of Dissinile had one of the most miserable lives on earth? Rinoa took a look back onto her life realizing how good she had it. Sure, she had her problems, but nothing this bad. How stupid she had been! She lived in this huge house, got all of the best clothes, went to the best school, could do basically whatever she wanted, she had it great! Well, compared to this she had it great.

Selphie continued her explanation after downing the rest of her soda, "Anyway, that's why Squall's not all gun-ho all the time about going out, 'cause things like what happened tonight could happen any night. So, that explains part of his anti-socialness."

"What's the other part?" Rinoa didn't mean to be rude and interrupt Selphie all the time, but she couldn't help it. Questions just popped into her head and then flowed out of her mouth.

Selphie let out an exasperated sigh, "You're just full of questions, aren't you?" Rinoa looked down and her cheeks flushed pink, but Selphie just laughed. "Don't worry about it! I don't mind! Actually, it's kind of fun. We never tell anyone anything, the group and I, I mean. We're a pretty tight group, but for some reason, we've all taken a liking to you, even Squall." Rinoa's head shot up in confusion and Selphie laughed again. "Yes, even Squall! There is no way he would ever let anyone go out with us unless he liked them. Anyhow, to answer your question about the other part of Squall's anti-socialness, that's for him to tell you when he sees fit. It's a rather…personal happening that few people know the details about. I honestly don't really know what happened, but anyway.

"In closing, I will leave you with a few words of warning, if you ever encounter the king for whatever reason, don't do anything to tick him off, and I mean anything!" Selphie stared straight into Rinoa's eyes, held her gaze for a few seconds, then flopped back to being crazy little Selphie. "Well, it's late, and we have to report to work bright and early tomorrow! Night, Rinoa!" With that, Selphie shuffled Rinoa out of her room and shut the door.

Rinoa just kind of wobbled to her room in a daze, how was she supposed to sleep after all of that? There was no way, but nonetheless, the instant she hit her bed, she was out like a light.

Rinoa woke to some crazy person, clad in yellow, bouncing on her bed. She let out an involuntary groan before a feeble attempt to cover up her head with her pillow. Selphie let out, what would seem to innocent bystanders, a cute little giggle, but to Rinoa it sounded like the maniacal laugh of an evil demon spawn coming to take her soul forever and eternity. How in the world could someone be so hyper so early in the morning?

"Come on sleepy head! It's time to get up and get ready for a new and exciting second day at Dissinile's fabulous palace!" Selphie exclaimed, obviously over-excited about the day. Rinoa just responded with another inhuman grunt and tried once again to cover her face with her pillow. Her efforts were thwarted however by the evil demon spawn snatching the feather pillow and hitting the poor girl repeatedly over the head with it while singing, no, screeching like the demon spawn that Rinoa had so quickly come to know her as, "Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey!!" Selphie jumped off of the bed, and ripped the covers from Rinoa's petite body. "Seriously, Rinny—you don't mind if I call you Rinny, right, good—you have to get up! We got to see Ulga, and you really don't want to see what she's like when the maids are late!" Rinoa grunted again, not moving. Selphie let out a huge, over-exaggerated, and highly exasperated sigh before tightly grabbing Rinoa's ankles with what was truly a death grip, and yanking her onto the floor.

"Ow, what the-! Selphie, what is your problem?" Rinoa said while rubbing her head, trying to relieve some of the pain that resulted from this unprovoked attack.

"You wouldn't get up, so I had to resort to drastic measures!" Selphie said, pouting and folding her arms defiantly over her chest.

"Fine, fine, you win! I'm up." Rinoa stood up from the floor and shooed Selphie away, "I need to get dressed, get out."

"Wait!" Selphie ran to the couch in their living room and grabbed a green uniform and shoved it into Rinoa's hands.

Rinoa stopped, puzzled, "But yours is yellow."

"I know, that's because I'm a cooking maid, like I told you last night! The uniform is a different color for each department." Selphie said, happy that she knew something so incredibly important.

"So, what does the green one mean?" Rinoa asked, waiting to hear what she'd be doing for three months.

"Green is for assistance maids! You'll be assisting someone 'cause that's what assisting maids do!" Selphie looked over-pleased with herself for knowing this useful tidbit of information.

Rinoa couldn't help herself, "No, Selphie, I don't believe you! I thought assisting maids would cook!" The sarcasm was overly evident in the tired girl's voice….

But it didn't seem to penetrate the spastic brunette's head, "No, silly! Why would assisting maids do that? They are called 'assisting' maids for a reason you know! Gee, you're not all that with it in the morning are you?" With that Selphie spun on her heel leaving behind a very dumfounded Rinoa. Could someone really be such a flake? Rinoa just silently shook her head and shut her door to get changed.

She put on the uniform and then took some time to examine it. Unlike Selphie's skirted uniform, Rinoa's was a pair of tan dress slacks and a green polo shirt. There was really nothing special about it, which was strange because Selphie's looked like a French maid's dress only yellow.

Once she was done and had successfully put her hair into a satisfactory pony-tail, she walked into the living room to meet Selphie. "Gosh, you're slow! Come on, we're not even going to have time to eat!" Selphie latched onto Rinoa's wrist and dragged her out of their rooms and into the hall.

While they were walking down the hall, Rinoa couldn't help but ask about the difference in uniforms. Selphie smiled in reply and said, "That's 'cause the designing of uniforms was divided between Squall, Ellone, and Zeme. Ellone designed the cooking and cleaning uniforms, Zeme designed the chef's and the supervisor's uniforms, and Squall got stuck with the assisting uniforms. I'm pretty sure he just looked in a catalogue and got the cheapest, most practical thing he could find."

Rinoa giggled, "Well, that explains everything!"

After a little while, they arrived at the main kitchen where they were meeting Ulga. Rinoa glanced at the intimidating and very large woman standing before her, not willing to make eye contact. The woman appeared to be around Alfred's age, but was about three times larger around the middle than him. She had long gray hair swept up into a neat bun, and she wore a long, plain black dress.

"Tilmitt! You're late!" The lady's booming voice echoed in the large kitchen.

"Sorry, ma'am! I assure you it won't happen again!" Selphie said quickly. Rinoa was actually quite surprised with how…polite Selphie was being. Not that she was rude, just that she usually has a more laid-back personality.

Ulga seemed satisfied with Selphie's apology and, to the poor girl's dismay, turned her attention to Rinoa. "You must be the princess from Galbadia, hm?" Rinoa only nodded in response, not wanting to upset the woman. "Well, then come with me." Ulga began walking away and Rinoa hesitated. She looked to Selphie for help, but the peppy girl just mouthed the words 'good luck' and walked away.

Rinoa then sprinted to catch up with Ulga who was now almost out the door. Once Rinoa caught up, Ulga was unhappily tapping her foot while standing next to Alfred. "Alright, princess, I don't know how things are done where you come from, but here at Dissinile, we are prompt and when someone asks us to do something, it's done immediately. So, I don't want to have to wait for you again, understand?" Ulga's voice boomed throughout the fantastic halls of the palace. Rinoa's only response was a meek little nod. Then Alfred came to her rescue.

"Oh, Ulga, don't you think that you're being a little rough on the poor girl? This is only her second day here. You don't want to scare her away do you? Then you'd be a maid short, and I would have no one to assist me!" Rinoa's smile lit up her whole face as she realized that she'd be working with Alfred. At the sight of Rinoa's happiness, Alfred slipped a little wink her way.

Ulga grumbled in response then moved on, basically ignoring Alfred's comment. "You, princess, will be working for Alfred. You will be helping him assist in his duties working for the commander." Ulga then went on ranting about not messing up and how things are done in Dissinile…blah, blah, blah. Rinoa didn't hear a word. She'd have to work around the commander? Maybe these three months were going to be worse than she thought.

"Hey, princess! Are you listening to me?"

"Uh, yes, ma'am, I understand."

**A/N **Alright, I hope you guys liked it...I'm really sorry about the long wait...let me know what you think by clicking the magic review button!! :D

Thanks to my wonderful beta-er, Renegade Seraph!!! She's AMAZING!!! :D


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